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Do not pay attention to the time.
WISDOM F AJAHN CHAH
Forget About Time
We tend to complicate our meditation. For example, when we sit, we may
determine, "Yes, I'm really going to do it this time." But that is not
the right attitude; nothing will be accomplished that day. Such grasping
is natural at first. Some nights, when I would
start to sit, I
would think, "OK, tonight I won't get up from my seat until 1:00 A.M.,
at the earliest." But before long, my mind would start to kick and rebel
until I felt that I would die. What is the point in that?
When
you are sitting properly, there is no need to measure or compel. There
is no goal, no point to attain. Whether you sit until 7:00 or 8:00 or
9:00 P.M., never mind. Just keep sitting without concern. Do not force
yourself. Do not be compulsive. Do nut command your heart to do things
for certain, for this command will make things all the less certain. Let
your mind be at ease, let your breath be even, normal, not short or
long or any special way. Let your body be comfortable. Practice steadily
and continuously. Desire will ask you, "How late will we go? How long
will we practice?" Just shout at it, "Hey, don't bother me!" Keep
quelling it, because it is only defilement coming to disturb you. Just
say, "If I want to stop early or late, it's not wrong; if I want to sit
all night, who am I hurting? Why do you come and disturb me?" Cut off
desire, and keep sitting in your own way. Let your heart be at ease, and
you will become tranquil, free from the power of grasping.
Some people sit in front of a lighted incense stick and vow to sit until
it has burned down. Then they keep peeking to see how far it has
burned, constantly concerned with the time. "Is it over yet?" they ask.
Or they vow to push beyond or die, and then feel terribly guilty when
they stop only one hour later. These people are controlled by desire.
Do not pay attention to the time. Just maintain your practice at a
steady pace, letting it progress gradually. You do not need to make
vows. Just keep striving to train yourself, just do your practice and
let the mind become calm of itself. Eventually, you will find that you
can sit a long time at your ease, practicing correctly.
As to pain in the legs, you will find that it goes away by itself. Just stay with your contemplation.
If you practice in this way, a change will take place in you. When you
go to sleep, you will be able to settle your mind into calmness and
sleep. Formerly, you may have snored, talked in your sleep, gnashed your
teeth, or tossed and turned. Once your heart has been trained, all of
that will vanish. Although you will sleep soundly, you will awaken
refreshed instead of sleepy. The body will rest, but the mind will be
awake day and night. This is Buddho, the one who knows, the Awakened
One, the Happy One, the Brilliant One. This one does not sleep, does not
feel drowsy. If you make your heart and mind firm like this in your
practice, you may not sleep for two or three days, and when you get
sleepy, you can enter samadhi for five or ten minutes and arise
refreshed, as if you had slept all night long. At this point, you need
not think about your body, although with compassion and understanding,
you will still consider its needs.
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